Watching the Tape

When most business owners think about mystery shopping, they picture an average consumer entering a store to evaluate the customer experience. This includes everything from the impressions they form when approaching the store’s exterior to how the employees treat them once they’re inside. Additionally, they’ll usually have feedback regarding store…
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Mystery Shopper Requirements

One of the first questions prospective mystery shoppers ask is what kind of training is required to succeed in this industry. There are many certification programs, for example, covering everything from shopper ethics to the nuances of different client industries (including dining, automotive sales, and so on). But which of…
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Mystery Shopping During a Pandemic

Whether you’re a longtime mystery shopper, a dabbler, or a first-timer, you’ve probably wondered how this process works in light of the coronavirus pandemic. After all, restricted occupancy, social distancing, and facial coverings are sure to make any customer experience awkward and your task as an evaluator challenging—to say the…
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The Power of Convenience on the Customer Experience

Returning to Shep Hyken’s 2020 special report that we discussed a couple weeks back, let’s turn our attention to the price are willing to pay for their customer experience. We can surmise that some people are indeed willing to pay more for higher quality, naturally. Otherwise, luxury brands wouldn’t exist,…
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The Mystery Shopping Report Card

The Brandt Group offers a variety of detailed reporting options for our clients to review and interpret the mystery shopping data we collect. The reports empower them to identify big-picture trends or focus in on the tiniest of details. And they’re all scalable, offering a view of the entire company,…
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Is Now Really a Good Time to Mystery Shop?

Unless you’ve just returned from a sabbatical in the Alaskan interior, you’ve probably noticed that these are unusually intense times we’re living in: the headline of every newspaper and the highlight of every cable news segment is singularly focused on just how perilous it is to even go outside. Hyperbole…
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What’s the Difference Between a Mystery Shop and a Feedback Survey?

When we’re first approached by prospective new clients, we often hear that they’ve already tried conducting feedback surveys in the hopes of understanding their customers’ viewpoint. This is actually great since it demonstrates the natural interest we should show for the quality of the customer experience, especially as we hope…
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Mystery Shopping for Survival

Earlier this year, back before the start of the lockdowns and the social distancing, we posted an article about the importance of Mystery Shopping for Compliance. In it, we described how critical it is for businesses to ensure their employees are obeying the laws governing the sale of age-restricted products…
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Mystery Shopping Under Lockdown

Amid social-distancing recommendations, stay-at-home pleas, and shelter-in-place orders, businesses everywhere are trying to find ways to remain open—even if in a limited capacity—to serve their communities and keep their staff members employed. Restaurants are closing their dining rooms but switching to pick-up and delivery, retailers are shuttering their showrooms but…
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